[1986-08-23-NWA-Worldwide] Magnum T.A. vs Nikita Koloff

[shoe]

This is #7 in the best of 7. This is a legendary feud and spawned many imitations. The crowd is amped for this. The heat is insane. TA is super over and to the fans in the crowd he's Captain America. TA to me is an incredible wrestler. He has good timing, incredible fire, big time charisma, and you believe in him. The crowd went bonkers on a cross body by TA. Magnum working the arm during his shine. He's dropping the knee on the arm. Love Magnum using the hammerlock, and his shine is really focused. TA post Nikita's arm. Flying AX handle gets 2. Nikita gives TA a few knees, but TA uses his speed and gets control back. Koloff uses his size, but TA takes back control. TA misses a cross body and Nikita is after the back of his opponent. Koloff selling of the arm is really strong here. Love Tony putting over the back work taking away Magnum's belly to belly. Nikita drops the elbow, but is consitant and sells it. Big bear hug by Nikita. TA trying to get seperation, but to no avail. Back to the bear hug. The crowd trying to get Magnum to rally. TA with a barrage of punches, and a big drop kick. The match feels likes it all Magnum, huge interferance and Nikita levels Magnum with the Russian Chain. 

 

The story, heat, drama made this match. We had outstanding story telling. Both guys match psychology and selling was aces. 4 1/4*

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA US Champion Magnum TA vs Nikita Koloff - NWA Worldwide 8/23/86 Match #7

These two captured lightning in a bottle! I wouldn’t call either a great worker but this was a home run! Magnum feels like an incomplete case. He was just getting good and finally feeling big time when the accident happened. The crowd being absolutely molten got also helped.

Mags shine is so fun and amplified the crowd. The crossbody near fall right off the bat the crowd was rocking. Dropkicking over the top. There was something about the Double Axehandle from the top that was just so big time, so king sized so electric. Sometimes a move is just a move but sometimes it is a MOVE~! And you know in that moment of time you have captured something special. We miss the transition to heat but we get a great Dustin-style bump on a missed crossbody and the way Nikita works the back is so good. The shoulder tackles driving Magnum into hard parts of ring is great. I loved the Bearhug. An all time great bear hug. Magnum does have an undeniable punch. Really fucking good! Loved loved the finish! Uncle Ivan gets piledriven on the floor. Electric! Tussle with Krushev the ref gets entangled. FLYING CHAIN RUSSIAN SICKLE 1-2-3! HOLY FUCK ALL TIME GREAT HEEL FINISH! THIS MATCH RULES! **** 1/2